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Canada has a small set of routes for people who cannot safely go home, or who have a compelling reason to stay that no ordinary immigration programme covers. Nobody scores points, nobody needs a job offer, and in most of these routes a person cannot simply decide to apply. If you or someone you love is frightened, this page explains the four routes calmly and points you to help that costs nothing.
This page is for someone already in Canada, or at the border, who fears returning home; for someone outside Canada who has heard that "resettlement" might be possible; and for someone who has been refused and wants to know what remains. Our report does not assess any of these routes, and everything here is free to read.
Canada's own description is simple: you can ask for refugee protection "if it's unsafe for you to return to your home country". This is also called claiming asylum (IRCC: claim refugee protection).
Officers from IRCC (the immigration department) or the CBSA (the border agency) first decide whether your claim is eligible to be sent forward. Then the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, an independent tribunal, decides the claim itself, through its Refugee Protection Division (IRB: applying for refugee protection).
You can claim at any port of entry when you arrive: an airport, a seaport or a land border crossing. If you are already inside Canada, you can start a claim online (IRCC: asylum claims made in Canada).
Once a claim reaches the Board, you complete a form called the Basis of Claim, setting out in your own words what happened and why you cannot return. The Board lists the steps on the page above and runs free online "Hearing Ready Tours" that show what a hearing looks like.
Not every claim can go to the Board. IRCC's asylum page lists time limits on claiming after you first arrive, and other conditions that make a claim ineligible; read it first, and if a deadline may apply to you, get free legal help the same day.
Under the Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the United States, a person "is required to request refugee protection in the first safe country they arrive in", unless an exception applies. In practice, someone who arrives from the United States by land is usually sent back to claim there. Since March 2023 it applies along the whole land border, including a claim made within 14 days of crossing between official crossings. Exceptions include certain family members in Canada, unaccompanied children, and holders of a valid Canadian visa or permit (IRCC: the Safe Third Country Agreement).
At the hearing a member of the Board listens to your account and decides whether you meet one of two definitions. A Convention refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. A person in need of protection would face a danger of torture, a risk to their life, or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment if returned.
Two warnings from the official pages. If you miss steps in the process, your claim can be declared abandoned: in the Board's words, "your claim will not be heard, and you will probably be told to leave Canada". And IRCC warns that travelling back to the country you fear while the claim is being processed can get it rejected, and that someone who already has protection can lose it.
If the Board accepts your claim, Canada gives you refugee protection and you become a protected person; IRCC's pages explain the next steps.
If the Board refuses it, there is usually a right to appeal to its Refugee Appeal Division, usually without a second hearing: the appeal is decided on the documents and the record of the first one (IRB: refugee appeals). Ask a lawyer or legal aid clinic whether an appeal is open to you.
Resettlement is how Canada brings refugees who are outside their home country to live in Canada permanently. It has three streams. Government-Assisted Refugees are supported by the Government of Canada after arrival. Privately Sponsored Refugees are supported by "a group of people or an organization" in Canada. The Blended Visa Office-Referred stream mixes the two (IRCC: refugee resettlement from outside Canada).
The most important fact is on that page in one line: you cannot apply for resettlement yourself. You must be referred by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), a designated referral organisation, or a private sponsorship group in Canada. That is exactly why no self-assessment tool, ours included, can assess it: the route starts with a referral you do not control, not with a form you fill in.
Resettlement is for a Convention refugee abroad, who has a well-founded fear of persecution on the grounds listed above, or a person in the country of asylum class, who is outside their home country and seriously affected by civil war or armed conflict, or denied basic human rights on an ongoing basis.
If this describes you, contact UNHCR where you are now, or a registered sponsorship group in Canada, never a company promising to "apply for resettlement" for you; our post on spotting immigration scams explains why that promise is a warning sign.
A pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA) is a check before a person is removed from Canada, so that nobody is sent to a country where they would face a risk of persecution, a danger of torture, or a risk to their life or of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment (IRCC: pre-removal risk assessment).
You cannot ask for one on your own initiative: "you can only apply for a PRRA if a CBSA officer tells you that you are eligible". Some people cannot apply at all, for example if their earlier claim was ineligible under the Safe Third Country Agreement, and in general a person must wait 12 months after a negative Board decision or a previous PRRA, with some exceptions by country (IRCC: PRRA eligibility).
A humanitarian and compassionate application (H&C) asks the immigration department to let someone become a permanent resident even though they would not normally qualify. IRCC describes it as being for "exceptional cases", weighing how settled the person is in Canada, their family ties, the best interests of any children involved, and what could happen if the request is refused (IRCC: humanitarian and compassionate grounds).
Three limits on that page are often misunderstood. An H&C application does not assess risk factors such as persecution, risk to life, or cruel and unusual treatment; those belong to a refugee claim or a PRRA, so H&C is not a substitute for the routes above. You cannot apply while a refugee claim is waiting at the Board, nor in general within 12 months of a negative Board decision, with exceptions for children under 18 who would be harmed by removal and for a life-threatening medical condition that cannot be treated at home. And applying does not stop or delay a removal.
If your situation involves abuse from a partner or family member, see immigration options after family violence in Canada; if Canada has announced crisis measures for your country, see Canada's special immigration measures.
Our questionnaire and report assess work, study, family and business routes to Canada. They do not assess a refugee claim, resettlement, a PRRA or an H&C application, and they will never tell you whether you would be recognised as a refugee: only the Board can decide that, after hearing you. If visa, permanent residence and protected person are still a blur, start with our guide to visas, permanent residence and citizenship.
The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, your province's legal aid plan (for example Legal Aid Ontario's immigration and refugee service) and the settlement agencies you can find through IRCC's free newcomer services finder can help you with this at no cost. You do not need to pay anyone to ask for the protections on this page. UNHCR Canada's page on seeking asylum and IRCC's refugee pages are the official starting points.
Before you pay anyone for immigration advice, ask for their licence or registration number and check it with the regulator for the country you are applying to. IRCC explains who may be paid to represent you.
Our free questionnaire and our full report do not assess the routes on this page. We wrote it because people arrive asking about them, and everything here is free to read.